Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Goldman Sachs Beats Q2 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.87% to 26875.28 while the NASDAQ rose 0.57% to 10,548.67. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.77% to 3,222.21.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 3,431,570 cases with around 136,465 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 1,926,820 COVID-19 cases with 74,130 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 936,180 confirmed cases and 24,300 deaths. In total, there were at least 13,323,530 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 578,620 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrial shares rose 1.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Bloom Energy Corporation BE, up 18%, and Deluxe Corporation DLX, up 7%.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares rose by just 0.4%.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Goldman Sachs reported quarterly earnings of $6.26 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $3.78 per share. The company reported sales of $13.30 billion, exceeding expectations of $9.73 billion.

Goldman Sachs’ investment banking revenue climbed 36% year-over-year During the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

China Finance Online Co. Limited JRJC shares shot up 237% to $24.63 after the company announced an agreement under which Dow Jones will provide the company with access to a sub-set of its Chinese language newswire service.

Shares of Genetic Technologies Limited GENE got a boost, shooting 55% to $3.4923 after the company issued an update on its COVID-19 Severity Risk Test.

Taiwan Liposome Company, Ltd. TLC shares were also up, gaining 55% to $9.66 after the company reported that a pre-print version of a manuscript on TLC’s strategy to treat coronavirus disease with targeted delivery of inhalable liposomal hydroxychloroquine has been made publicly available.

Equities Trading DOWN

Perceptron, Inc. PRCP shares tumbled 29% to $4.65. Perceptron shares surged 107% on Tuesday after the company received an order from an automotive supplier for its in-line measurement technology.

Shares of Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. CBLI were down 20% to $2.6339 after surging more than 57% on Tuesday.

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Sphere 3D Corp. ANY was down, falling 13% to $4.07 after the company announced the acquisition of Rainmaker Worldwide.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $40.83, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,808.20.

Silver traded up 1.1% Wednesday to $19.745, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.9365.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.5%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.2%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 climbed 1.8%, French CAC 40 surged 2.4% and UK shares rose 1.9%.

Economics

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index climbed to 17.2 in July versus -0.2 in the prior month.

Import prices rose 1.4% in June after gaining 0.8% in May. Export prices in the US rose 1.4% in June after a revised 0.4% increase in May.

US industrial production gained 5.4% in June, following a 1.4% rise in May.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.